Sinner, no dice on this one: it’s already written.
Just enough time to turn off the spotlight of the last Masters 1000 of the year that already it will be time for the 8 champions who have done best in these 11 months of 2024 to leave for Turin.
Once the Paris-Bercy tournament is archived, the Masters of the Race will indeed meet again at the foot of the Alps for an appointment that already has the flavor of an unforgettable challenge. Exciting Atp Finals always are, but this time, perhaps, they will be even more so. Jannik Sinner will be taking part for the first time as the reigning No. 1, and there are very good odds that he could be the one, this year, who will come out on top in the duel between titans that will, in fact, sanction the end of the season.
There are many who think so, bookmakers included, reasoning that the Italian will launch himself into this new adventure as a big favorite. However, we must not and cannot forget, of course, that tennis is unpredictable and that, in fact, anything could happen in the city of the Mole. Even that an “unsuspected” – so to speak, as all the participants are hotshots – would put the San Candido native in trouble. That someone might not be Carlos Alcaraz, though, as Ivan Ljubicic pointed out in recent hours, speaking at a Sky Sports press conference to discuss the continuation of the season.
Sinner, surprise at the foot of the Mole: it will not be him
According to the former Croatian tennis player, the Iberian will not be the enemy to defeat this time. Ljubicic is not convinced that the Murcia phenom is too cut out for indoor concrete, so much so that he does not see him as a threat to Sinner. Provided, of course, that upsets are always just around the corner.
“Sinner is an overwhelming favorite in the Turin Finals – these are his remarks – also because Alcaraz still has to convince me at the indoor level. His level is very high outdoors, but when he plays indoors he suffers. In Turin he suffered a lot last year, especially mentally. Let’s see if things will change.”
In his opinion, the one who could concretely bother Sinner is Alexander Zverev, who has already won the Finals and is particularly comfortable, therefore, in this year-end event. But to know whether Ljubicic saw right, alas, we will have to wait another couple of weeks.